My Quaker parrots beak is overgrown

by Adriana
(Gurnee, IL)

My quaker parrots beak is over grown, My mom is filing her nail down at least everyday with a nail filer and it doesnt look like its hurting and my mom says its nothing and its okay, But im worried we are actually hurting her. Im really attached to her and would never want to loose her... Her beak is really over grown and almost reaches to her belly. Is it okay to trim its bottom to like half of it? Where would his veins reach up to? Please help Im really afraid and we cant afford the vet...

Comments for My Quaker parrots beak is overgrown

Never, ever trim a bird's beak yourself because you risk it bleeding out. Also, have your mother stop with the filing of the toe nails as this is far too much stress for the bird. Birds can and do die of stress related problems like heart attacks and just stopping breathing. Have Avian Vet clip the nails, and they get it done quickly and the right way.

Take your bird to an Avian Vet in your driving area, and have them clip the nails and get started on getting the beak back to normal. This will take a while, sio you'll be making trips to Avian Vet at least every couple of months so they can take more off the beak. Work with them and follow their plan for getting beak back to normal. Your bird cannot eat right with a beak this overgrown, and whover had bird before was guilty of severe neglect. Sometimes bird's beaks become overgrown because they are not provided wood to chew on as all parrots love to chew on and destroy wood.

Thanks for writing,Linda

Jul 18, 2011

Overgrown beak on birdby: The Avian Vet

Filing will not be enough. It needs to be clipped then filed. With a Quaker, you can see the quick in most cases. The top beak should extend beyond the lower beak about 1/2 to 3/4 inches.

Dr B

Jul 18, 2011

Quaker parrot with long beakby: Tracie

No, you can not trim a bunch of the beak at one time. There is a blood supply in the beak, and if you trim too far back the bird might bleed to death.

You really need to find an avian vet to both trim the beak and find out what is causing the growth. It could be nutritional, if you are feeding seeds instead of healthy pellets like Roudybush or Harrison's. Birds develop fatty liver disease on seed diets.

It could be that the bird is not provided with enough wood toys to chew, to keep the beak worn down naturally. Quakers parrots in the wild collect sticks and weave huge nests. They need to be able to chew and destroy things.

Most avian vets will take payments. Please encourage your parents to Find an Avian Vet to help you with this. I have asked Dr B, an avian vet, to answer this question also. Sometimes it takes a few days for him to answer.